Monthly Archives: April 2009

Swine Flu Resources

Posted on 26 April 2009 by Rick Mason

I suspect that Swine Flu is likely to be a common research question for reference departments around the world during the foreseeable future.  I have had an interest in the 1918 influenza epidemic pandemic for several years, and have spent … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, History, Libraries, Medical, News, Open Access | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stupid Disclaimer

Posted on 24 April 2009 by Rick Mason

A brief rant, if you will accomodate me for a moment: I encountered a disclaimer in an e-mail that strikes me as extreme enough to mention: This email, and any attachment, is intended only for the person or entity to … Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright, Language, WebSearch | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Stupid Disclaimer

Neutral Pleasure, Medium Arousal

Posted on 22 April 2009 by Rick Mason

In its continuing examination of library blogs, HotStuff 2.0 has added a visualization of emotional content. Here is the current visualization for Libology: How to read the information, from HotStuff’s description: The overall scatter of words in the ANEW list … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Classification, Libraries, Library 2.0, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Neutral Pleasure, Medium Arousal

Publisher Confidential

Posted on 22 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Publisher Confidential is a creation by the Unshelved crew that strives to convey to publishers what libraries wish they would know.  It consists of brief statements illustrated with the familiar Mallville Public Library staff.  The booklet is being distributed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Books, Humor, Libraries, Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Publisher Confidential

DIY Book Scanner

Posted on 21 April 2009 by Rick Mason

I enjoy building things, especially if there is a “let’s see what we can find to make this work” factor involved. With that in mind, it should be obvious why Building a High Speed Scanner from Trash and Cheap Cameras … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Tutorials | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on DIY Book Scanner

E-Readers and the Future

Posted on 21 April 2009 by Rick Mason

ALA TechSource has a brief blogger forum post on the state of E-Book Readers.  The quote that I think is most worth thinking about comes from Jason Griffey: E-books are the future of reading in a very real way, simply … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Books, Libraries, Licensing, Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

Posted on 20 April 2009 by Rick Mason

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods is a great resource if you have information you need to present visually, but don’t know the best way to express it.  Simply go to the site and let your mouse hover over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classification, Web Design | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Oracle buys Sun

Posted on 20 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Oracle has purchased Sun Microsystems. This is significant on many levels.  Many of our library systems run on software or hardware from these companies.  The Voyager library I used to work for used an Oracle database running on a Sun … Continue reading →

Posted in Acquisitions, Blogs, Cataloging, ILS, Libraries, News, Online Databases, Online Services, Open Source, Software, Wiki | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Oracle buys Sun

Evernote

Posted on 16 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Evernote is an online service that serves an interesting purpose:  it allows you to indicate digital items that you wish to remember, it stores them, and then makes the entire collection searchable. Or more specifically, you can have it remember … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Online Databases, Online Services, Search, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Open Source ILS and Technical Services

Posted on 15 April 2009 by Rick Mason

For those interested in Open Source Integrated Library Systems such as Koha, Evergreen, Open Library Environment Project (OLE), OpenBiblio, etc., the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) will be holding an e-forum on April 21st and 22nd.  From … Continue reading →

Posted in Acquisitions, Cataloging, Groups, ILS, Libraries, Open Source, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Open Source ILS and Technical Services

National Library Workers Day

Posted on 14 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Today is National Library Workers Day!  Be sure to let those who make your library experience better, whether they be coworker, boss, student, or the library workers at the place you get your materials, know that you appreciate them!  If … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on National Library Workers Day

Time for Marc to go

Posted on 8 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Marc was a Good & Loyal Mule but Now It’s Time to Shoot It is a post over on the Future4catalogers blog that does an effective job at explaining why the library community should be focusing on using a new, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cataloging, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Open Source, Software, XML | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Time for Marc to go

Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

Posted on 7 April 2009 by Rick Mason

Gary Hamel’s blog post on the Wall Street Journal is titled The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500, but the issues contained within the post are ones that are going to touch upon all businesses and organizations, including libraries. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Groups, Libraries, Library 2.0 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500